HIGHWAY 303: Wetlands, retail reside side by side

Kitsap County commissioners designated the area for commercial development years ago. Big-box stores and other retail establishments replicated themselves along the highway.

But county planners and developers in recent years also have made the route a home for wetlands.

Highway 303 is surrounded by wetlands, or soggy lowlands that must be filled if they are developed for buildings. When a developer fills a wetland, he or she must compensate by paying into a wetland mitigation bank or creating a new mitigation bank.

The county will permit some development in a wetland if the builder agrees to mitigate the damage by rebuilding another wetland area.

The largest wetland mitigation site on Highway 303 is just south of Fairgrounds Road, next to the Olympic Village Apartments.

Paul Pazooki, formerly of Silverdale, owns the property. As he builds up surrounding sites, Pazooki adds to the wetland as part of his mitigation plan.

Pazooki, who owns Pazco Inc. of Seattle, said he plans to place uprooted tree stumps in the land this summer. Someday the property may have a tributary of Steele Creek running through it with fish.

The work "should take it from a pasture to a more diverse wetland," said Rick Kimball, environmental coordinator for Kitsap County's Department of Community Development.

The county is reviewing another mitigation proposal for a piece of land across the highway from Pazooki's wetland. If approved, that property could be developed into a commercial pad with a wetland area incorporated into the site.

Highway 303 probably isn't the best place for development under today's environmental standards, Kimball said. But wetlands and new buildings will coexist along the highway.

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